It's 1:00am and we have won. Here are my quick thoughts:
- It doesn't exactly feel like a loss, but it doesn't feel like a big win either. It feels disappointing, like a let-down.
- the defense had a lot of problems. It's not that they couldn't do anything right, but for most of the game we would put together a couple of good plays only to give up a big 3rd down play.
- Terrence Toliver had a rough first quarter, but then blew up, scoring two touchdowns on two catch-and-runs in which he made good moves on defensive backs. Toliver was probably the offensive player of the game for us.
- We could not get the power running game going, which is supposed to be our biggest team strength. Our offensive line, in particular, will have to play better. Charles Scott also had a pretty forgettable night.
- Jordan Jefferson had a pretty nice night. He started 1 for 6 but after that went 10 for 13 with 3 touchdowns and zero INTs. He was also effective with his legs and had an ATVSQBPI of 10.2 yards per play
- Our inability to run the ball effectively with Charles Scott meant we had a lot of 3-and-outs, which meant we were killed in the time of possession stats. The coaches will have to diagnose the problems there and figure out why we couldn't run inside effectively.
- That said, Keiland Williams had a pretty nice night with 8 touches for 60 yards.
- The biggest mysteries are a) where was Russell Shepard? b) where was Rueben Randle? c) where were all the other members of the Class of 2009? As far as I can tell, the only true freshman who gave up his redshirt tonight was punter Derek Helton.
- I don't want to be too critical of the defensive line. I thought they got pretty good pressure at least some of the time. They will have to stay more disciplined with their rush lanes whenever we face a mobile QB though.
- Patrick Peterson was awesome.